Mount Carmel School proudly recognizes her students who competed and won major awards during the 2021 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest.

The contest consisted of an essay and video contest that posed the question, “What does our american community ask of us?”  The contest was open to high school students in the western United States and Pacific Islands. As part of the evaluation process, students were encouraged to discuss the theme of the contest in reference to the Constitution, and to consider the historical examples or other relevant events in American history for both their essay and video submissions. 

Among Mount Carmel School’s competitors, Katherine Avendano-Woodruff won first place in the Essay Contest; Richard Steele won second place in the Essay Contest; Brandee Hunter, Connie Zhu, and Katherine Avendano-Woodruff won first place in the video contest; and Skyler Poon, John San Nicolas, and Raffy Lee won third place for the video contest. 

First place winner for both the video and essay contest Katherine “Kate” Avendano-Woodruff discussed the importance of cooperation and perseverance when overcoming present issues.  “The competition challenged me to reflect on the current state of our nation and realize what we need to do as a community to make it better,” shared Kate.

Kate is a recent graduate from Mount Carmel School’s class of 2021 and was recognized as the salutatorian of her class. She will attend Chapman University in the Fall for her undergraduate studies. 

“I am very proud of all our students that competed in the 2021 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest,” shared school president Dr. Galvin Deleon Guerrero. “They all conducted extensive research in relation to the Constitution to justify their perspectives. I am proud of the work they submitted and I’m glad their hard work was recognized.” 

The winning videos will be screened before the Zero2Hero encore screening this Friday, June 11, at 7:00 pm on the school quad (or the auditorium in the event of rain).

For more information about Mount Carmel School’s academic programs and services, visit www.mountcarmelsaipan.com.